Dollar steadies after US healthcare bill pulled

NEW YORK: Dollar steadied after US healthcare bill pulled near a four-month low against the Japanese yen on Friday and was on pace to snap an eight-day losing streak against the safe-haven currency, after Republicans killed their bill to overhaul the US healthcare system.

With a risk-averse mood across markets, the greenback slipped about 1.3% against the yen this week.

On Friday, it was up 0.31 per cent at 111.27 yen.

“The last few days, the market has sort of traded on the back foot on anticipation of the vote that would happen at some point this week,” Mazen Issa, senior FX strategist at TD Securities in New York.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.02 per cent at 99.739, after falling to a seven-week low of 99.527, earlier in the session.

Investors have been split on whether a defeat for the bill would knock the dollar and stock markets – because it would suggest Trump’s inability to get reforms through Congress, or whether it would boost them.

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